Day by Day
by southernbelle4
Summary: Jed's perspective on Sam and Ainsley's rocky beginning. (Intra-episode vingettes for ITWH, ASITHC, LDC, and BTSOTU)


_**Day by Day**_

PG--S/A, Jed's POV

This is a story I started a year and a half or so ago. It is a series of vingettesof the President's perspective of my favorite potential WW couple (which unfortunately never got that far on the show). I don't know if I will continue these or not, but I wanted to share the completed partswith y'all.

I make no money from this, don't sue please!

Enjoy and Review!

* * *

**In This White House...**

"You need anything else, Sir?"

"No Charlie. Go on home."

"You wanted me to remind you that Sam is on Capital Beat tonight."

"Right." I honestly don't remember asking Charlie to remind me about that.

"I'm going to the residence. Good Night, Charlie."

"Good night, Sir."

"Good night, Mrs. Landingham!" I yell, because its easier than using the stupid intercom.

"Don't yell, Mr. President. It's bad for your vocal cords."

"My vocal cords are fine."

"Okay, Sir."

"They are. Look I am done for tonight, right?"

"Yes, Sir."

"What time is my wife getting back?"

"Ten tomorrow morning, Sir."

"Thanks."

I walk out the door towards the residence thinking about something, I'm not exactly sure what. You know I may have a far above average IQ but sometimes I just have to let my mind go. I'll just watch a little television before I go to bed. Oh yeah, Sam's on Capital Beat. It's always fun to watch him pound one Republican or another into the ground during a debate. That boy reminds me a little of myself when I was his age.

I walk into the room, discarding my coat and my tie on the chair and grab the remote. Just in time. The intro is coming on, as I see Mark Gotfried's face move across the screen. Expecting to see old man Wegeland next, I am surprised to see a picture of a young attractive blonde instead.

Sam could be in trouble. The only time he is at a loss for words is when he is around attractive women. Don't ask me what it is about him, but a bat of the eyes and a smile makes him mush. I mean he is one of our best and we constantly put him head to head with any number of senators and public officials and he always annihilates them in debate. Yet this...this could turn out very badly.

But they are debating the Education Initiative, which is a pet project of his, so he should be okay. He knows this stuff backwards and forwards. He'll be fine.

Wait, did he just say Kirkwood, Oregon? Nah, couldn't have. But he said it again...and again. I hope this girl doesn't know her geography. She's very young and seems to have a short attention span. Plus, by the sound of her voice, she's from the South. She probably doesn't know much about the Western part of the country.

She certainly can talk, though. She won't let Sam get a word in edgewise. I have to admit she's very smart and knows her stuff. I don't agree with a word she's saying, but she is a skilled debater. I can't believe this. I'm honestly impressed by a Republican...but I'm not going to let that become common knowledge. What I will do is ask Charlie to pull anything that she might have written. I'm intrigued by this woman but can't put my finger on why.

Oh no. She called him on the Kirkwood thing. Sam's face is priceless, and I feel bad for him, but I suddenly wish that I'd had someone record this. I really hope that Josh and Toby are watching. They won't ever let the man live this down.

She continues to put my Deputy Communications Director in his place after the commercial break ends, and I figure what it is about her. She has a sense of duty. She's a real idealistic patriot, regardless of affiliation. I always wondered what it would be like to have a different opinion around here to keep us in line. I think it would be a good thing. That's it! I'm going to tell Leo to hire her.

But I'll let him tell Sam.

**

* * *

****And Surely It's to Their Credit...**

"Good morning, Leo," I say as I enter the oval. It's Saturday and I had a rough night. If I hear about one more history-making woman without getting any from Abbey, I'm going to go crazy.

"Morning, Sir."

"Anything exciting go on around here last night? Had to be better than what went on in the residence."

"That was more than I needed to know, Mr. President."

"Sorry, I'm bitter. Is the radio guy here?"

"Not yet."

"Damn. Did they get the votes for the bill?"

"Yes, Sir. There wasn't really any reason the head count would deviate. It's pretty straight forward."

"Right."

"Also, our newest staff member had a little trouble integrating into the place."

"What happened?"

I was concerned that there might be trouble. Quite a few people were not pleased at the idea of having a Republican around. I still trust my gut that we need her around here. Hopefully she'll be able to stick it out.

"She was helping Tribbey with the problem on the Rockland memo. Actually he asked her to talk to the Majority Counsel's office."

"Because of her political affiliation."

"Right. Anyway, after that she went and talked to the two morons in the Communications office, Mark Brookline and Steve Joyce, who screwed up in their testimony about the memo. They apparently were not thrilled about having a Republican woman telling them what they need to do to keep themselves out of jail. When she got back to her office there was a bouquet of dead flowers and an inappropriate note attached."

By now my blood pressure has sky rocketed. I've never met this woman, but NO man in my White House treats a woman like that. I'm angry.

"Communications Office?" I don't wait for Leo's response and begin to move toward the door. "Not for long. Are they here?"

"Sir, Sam already took care of them. They packed up their stuff yesterday immediately after he fired them."

"Good."

I relax a little bit, and ask Leo how he heard about this.

"Sam came and told me, just to let me know in case there's any trouble."

I chuckle.

"That boy has some kind of White Knight complex doesn't he?"

"Well, Sir, I have to say, with Ainsley it is difficult not to be protective. She kind of pulls you in with that Southern Belle thing. She really is a good kid. Smart, strong, dedicated. I think you may be right about her being an asset to this administration. The Senior Staff decided to set an example for everyone else. They're fixing up her office, if you could call it that, and throwing her a little Welcome to the White House party. Sam's idea."

I catch the glimmer in his eyes, and I know what he's thinking. I've been thinking the same thing for this entire conversation, but neither one of us will ever say anything.

"Maybe I should go down there after the radio address and introduce myself."

"I don't think so, Jed," I hear a familiar voice say. I turn to see my wife standing in the doorway. Oh yeah, special garment. Never mind.

"I'll meet her some other time. Leo, go and see if the radio tech is here yet, please."

"Yes, sir."

**

* * *

****Lame Duck Congress...**

"What's next?" I ask my chief of staff as I walk back into my office after my not-really-a-meeting with Konanov.

"Sam's got the Small Business Fraud issue figured out."

He hands me two pages. I look at him like he's grown a second head.

"Are you sure this is from Sam? It's only two pages. Sam could take two pages to describe what his white dress shirt looks like."

"I'm working on streamlining, Sir."

"The whole substitute teacher analogy really got to you, huh?"

I ignore his affirmative grunt and look down to read. This is not what I expected from Sam. In fact this isn't what I would expect from any liberal democrat.

"Leo, did Sam work on this alone. I figured he'd go the other way."

"He did have some help, Sir."

"Let me guess...from a certain blonde Republican lawyer?"

I know that I have a smirk on my face. Leo has the same on his.

"Yes, Sir."

I finish reading all the way through the brief text and look up at my friend.

"This works for me. What do you think?"

"I can't believe I'm saying it, but I think she's right. It will help in raising the minimum wage, as Sam pointed out."

"Okay then." I pause before pursuing this topic further. "She seems to be fitting in pretty well."

"I think so. She and Sam certainly work well together, ironically enough. Josh has her working on some things for him and I think that she and Donna have met a few times. Even Tribbey has taken to her in his own way."

"I'm glad. I told you it would be good for us."

"And yet again, Mr. President, your impeccable sense of duty proves itself to be far superior of all others."

"That was sarcasm?"

"Yes, Sir."

**

* * *

****Bartlet's Third State of the Union...**

"Congratulations, Mr. President," I hear someone say as I make my way from the inside of the Capitol Building to my car.

"Thank you."

I get into the limo alone, and turn on the television. I know that Capital Beat is doing their coverage from the White House, and I'm curious to see what's going on. The first face I see is that of a smiling, but determined, Ainsley Hayes.

"Congressman, he did not say that..."

I chuckle despite myself. A republican defending my State of the Union Address. I never thought I'd see the day. But she's doing well. She always does. I may be at my best in front of an audience of dignitaries, but Miss Hayes is at her best in debate. I'm more and more impressed with her each time I hear about her or see her on one of these shows.

I still need to make a point to meet her. She's been doing a great job in a less than ideal situation, and she deserves to know that I have noticed.

We quickly arrive at the White House where I am greeted by Sam. Uh oh. He's got that look in his eye that he gets when he is on a mission.

"What's up?"

"They lost power at National Strategies."

"I heard. Hey, we scored points on a lot of things I fought you on."

"Yes, Sir. And I know how you can repay me."

"Repay you, for what?"

"For you being wrong in the face of me being right."

"I owe you money for that?"

"Oh, not money, Sir."

"I owe you anything for that?"

"Ainsley Hayes..."

So that is what this is all about.

"...has been working here for three months, and she's still a little afraid of meeting you Sir."

I decide to play along.

"Don't you already get paid?"

"Surely in the next few days you two are bound to be in the same place at the same time. I'm sure if you could make a point to introduce yourself..."

"Sir," Charlie interrupts.

I tell him to hold on. I'm really interested now.

"Is there anything in particular you want me to say?"

This ought to be good.

"I think something along the lines of 'Many people assume that you were hired because you were a blonde republican...sex kitten, and they were obviously wrong. And keep up the good work.'"

Well, it looks to me that my Deputy Communications Director has unintentionally fallen for our resident Southern Belle. I think he realizes his inadvertent admission to me, because he just got this glazed look over his face.

"That's really good."

I don't know how I said that with a straight face.

"Yeah."

Charlie calls me again, and I decide that Sam has suffered enough. He'll be kicking himself about that for a while. I follow Charlie, but I have to glance back once more to see the expression on Sam's face. I think that has made my night. Yes, this will be a good night after all.

Or not, I think as I walk into the Oval.

_later that night_

"I'm going to be walking the halls."

I leave my office before Leo has time to say anything else to me. I do this from time to time, just to get my mind off of the stress of the night. Well that, and I do have a destination: the Steam Pipe Distribution whatever-the-hell-Leo-calls-it. I know I have other things to be doing, like going to that party and dealing with Columbia, but I owe it to Sam and I think it will be fun. I like meeting new people and Ainsley definitely deserves it.

I ascend deeper and deeper into the bowels of the White House. I have to say that I honestly didn't even know that offices existed down here. Anything to work in the White House I suppose, but I feel bad that Miss Hayes has been relegated to the proverbial dungeon. She probably thinks its some sort of punishment for being a Republican.

Suddenly I hear music. I pause at the staircase and listen for a moment. I hear a giggle and someone says something. I can't make it out, but there is a distinct Southern drawl. Bingo. Miss Hayes must just be letting off some steam. It's good to do that from time to time.

But then, then I hear another voice. I quietly move down the steps, ditching my detail at the landing. As I move closer, I realize that the second voice is that of my Deputy Communications Director. Maybe I should leave them alone. I certainly wouldn't want to interrupt anything.

But my curiosity overrides my conscience. My feet keep moving downward, and the words become more recognizable.

"Oh, dance with me Sam."

I remain silent as I hit the bottom of the stairs. While I am not surprised to see them together, I am surprised to see an Associate White House Counsel dancing around in a bathrobe, seemingly drunk. It's a sight that Sam seems very interested in. I can't see his face, but I know.

I'm about to turn to leave, as I feel my presence won't be welcomed, but I'm not quick enough.

"Aghhh!"

Along with her shriek, Miss Hayes tosses a glass, half full of what I assume to be some kind of pink alcoholic beverage, into the air. Sam turns to me and looks a bit startled as well. Okay, I got caught so I might as well have a little fun with him.

"I didn't even know we had a night club down here."

Ainsley seems to be speechless, which is interesting since I hired her because of her speaking ability. She does turn the music off, thankfully.

Sam tries to cover his chagrin by making a formal introduction.

"Sir, I don't believe you've met Ainsley Hayes."

"Yeah. I just wanted to come down here and tell you, you know, a lot of people thought you were hired because you were a blonde, Republican sex kitten..."

Sam's eyes got huge, and I fought to keep a straight face.

"...and they were obviously wrong. And keep up the good work."

Ainsley's meek reply of "Yes, Sir," was barely audible, so I turned to Sam.

"You know we're meeting?"

He is still trying to compose himself. You know, I think he may be almost as embarrassed about me using his little speech as Miss Hayes is about this bathrobe fiasco.

"Yes, Sir."

I turn and walk up the stairs and as I do, I hear him attempt, both fruitlessly and pathetically, to make her feel better. I'll have to make sure that another introduction is arranged, so that she won't spend the rest of her time here afraid of running into me at some point. I need her to be able to do her work.

I head toward the oval to meet with the senior staff.

Twenty minutes later, Leo, Josh, CJ, Toby and Sam are seated on the couches, discussing how to deal with Columbia. Well, all but Sam. He seems to be in his own little world. I decide to shock him back into reality.

"Sam, what do you think?"

"I'm sorry, Sir. What do I think about what?"

CJ rolls her eyes, and I choose my next words carefully.

"Do you think that the Columbian government should be dancing around the real issue, blaming all of their problems on other people."

I know that really had no relevance to the discussion, but I just wanted to see him squirm, since he wasn't helping with the meeting.

I got the reaction I wanted. He turned beet red, and unsuccessfully tried to turn the attention back to other things.

CJ, Josh, Toby and Leo look lost. CJ speaks up as Sam struggles to move the meeting along.

"Sir, did we miss something?"

"Oh yeah."


End file.
